Hyderabad: BJP MP Eatala Rajender to lead march over Jawahar Nagar dumpyard pollution

BJP MP from Telangana Eatala Rajender has called for an end to fresh garbage being brought to Hyderabad’s Jawahar Nagar dumpyard, and for the waste already accumulated there to be processed and recycled. The Malkajgiri MP said that the pollution from the site is causing serious health problems for people in nearby neighbourhoods including Yapral, Dammaiguda, Kapra, Alwal, among others. As part of a campaign against the dumpyard, the BJP leader has announced a march beginning October 27. 

Speaking at a roundtable meeting he organised on Sunday, October 25, Eatala Rajender called for waste-processing facilities with zero-pollution technology. He said waste could be converted into electricity, biogas and organic manure rather than dumped indiscriminately. He also said he would seek support and funding from the Union government in this regard.

The MP said that pollution from the Jawahar Nagar dumpyard affects areas within a 25-to-30-kilometre radius and that residents face hazardous living conditions. He questioned why, despite court orders and the resources of the private waste-management company Ramky Enviro Engineers operating at the site, residents’ concerns remained unresolved. He also alleged that the company’s corporate social responsibility funds were being spent outside the state instead of on local drinking water, roads and other facilities. 

The MP said four months had passed since he met Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy without a satisfactory outcome. 

Environmentalist K Purushotham Reddy said he would join the protest on October 28. Former Hyderabad mayor Banda Karthika Reddy and residents, activists and members of a Joint Action Committee also attended the meeting.

Jawahar Nagar Hyderabad’s main waste site

The dumpyard’s history stretches back to the late 1990s, when 339 acres at Jawahar Nagar were allocated for waste from the then municipalities of Kapra, Alwal and Uppal. As Hyderabad expanded, the site became the destination for waste from across the city. In 2009, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) entered into an agreement with a private concessionaire to develop and operate an integrated municipal solid-waste management project there.

The site now includes both the old dump and newer waste-processing facilities. In a report filed in National Green Tribunal proceedings, the district administration said that legacy waste had been dumped unscientifically, with an estimated 10–12 million tonnes accumulated. The waste, originally spread across 339 acres, was consolidated into a smaller area of about 125 acres as part of site rehabilitation.

The dumpyard has been the subject of residents’ protests and legal action for years. In 2017, the National Green Tribunal directed the state to identify alternative sites and take further action.